Timothy Ferris wrote a great book called The 4-Hour Work Week. In that book, he talks about employing virtual assistants to work in your business while you work on your business. That is to say a virtual assistant (VA) works in your business handling administrative tasks while you focus on growing your business by engaging in income generating activities (e.g., meeting with prospects and existing customers, attending networking events, open house events, product demos, etc.).

Highly qualified VAs are available offshore for as little a $6 per hour. The VAs in based in the Phillipines are particularly skilled and affordable. Some people frown about using offshore personnel and think that money is leaving the USA. That is not true. When a business owner cuts expenses while increasing her/his revenue, it is most likely that that “new found” disposable income will be spent right here in the USA.

To learn more about this option that can help you save time, energy, and money, go to www.OutsourceForSavings.com.

Kind regards,

You know, I like to help people, and generally do not want or expect anything in return. However, when networking, some people always call me for a “hook-up” of some sort but they never reciprocate.

Check out this video I put on YouTube:

Here is a letter that I’m sending to a few people. They have to be reminded that networking is a two-way street:

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Dear Friend,

I need your help.

You know that I network like a mad man and I work really hard to help others have success. I’m always looking for ways to connect people to prospective customers, vendors, and strategic partners. Not all of the referrals work out, but the fact is I give quality introductions via email, or I set up a conference call or a video chat.

Heck, I may have purchased products from you or used your service in the past – or maybe I still do.

Hey, I really need you to help me out.

Who do you know who is a busy corporate professional that has a side business?

I market two services that may be able to help them automate and preschedule blog posts and social media updates, and a tool that allows them to network with others from the comfort of their home or office.

Here are the links for these two services:

• www.PostScheduler.com
• www.SpeedNetworkingOverThePhone.com

Please keep your eyes and ears open for me and forward this info to others in your network.

I’ve shown you time and time again that I do in fact keep my eyes and ears open, and forward info to my social media network about you and the products/services that you offer.

Let’s get the exchange flowing, and let’s keep it going and growing.

Thank you.

Kind regards,

Tyrone Turner

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Hey, if they don’t get the message, they don’t want to get the message. I’ll just take my database of contacts elsewhere.

You make sure that you do the same. Follow your dollar. Put money in the pockets of those that put money in your pockets.

Don’t be reluctant to give first, but if it seems to be a parasitic relationship rather than a symbiotic one, drop that zero and go find a hero.

All the best,

A lot of us home-based entrepreneurs still have a full-time job. That sure does make growing one’s business kind of difficult. However, difficult is not impossible. Especially in 2010 and beyond.

After reading books like Tim Ferris’ The 4-Hour Work Week and Scott Fox’s e-Riches 2.0, and joining great online communities like The Perfect Biz Finder and Click Millionaires, I picked up a couple of ideas on how to automate your initial contact and follow-up.

I discuss a few of them in the below video.

Check out the video and click through the links for more information on these free and low-cost services.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

• GetResponse
• uReach
• Phonevite
• Send Out Cards
• Ping.fm
• Post Scheduler
• Desk Ping

Let me know how these tools work out for you.

Wow…

Scott Fox is a real-deal small biz success story.

Scott Fox is a successful online entrepreneur, an expert on online small business social media marketing and e-business startup strategies, and now an author, radio talk show host, motivational speaker, and e-commerce startup advisor. He is the author of two books: Internet Riches, the best-selling guide to starting a business online, and also e-Riches 2.0, the leading guide to Web 2.0 online marketing strategies, and regular free email newsletters, too.

His expertise as an author is based on personal experience and success: Scott Fox has built multi-million dollar e-businesses ranging from small web site startups, to web sites for celebrities like Bill O’Reilly and Larry King, to the online division of a major corporation. His work and books have been covered by press outlets including the Boston Globe, LA Business Journal, Toronto’s Globe & Mail, Wall Street Journal, Philadelphia Inquirer, Orange County Register, Smart Money and SUCCESS magazines, and many, many radio programs and blogs worldwide.

He recently launched an online success coaching community designed to help small business owners succeed online. The goal of this new social network of online marketers, e-commerce startup execs, and work-at-home entrepreneurs is to help people achieve a “Click Millionaire” lifestyle of personal success.

I really enjoyed interviewing him on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009.

Click on the player below to listen to the interview.

Make sure to check out Scott’s sites at www.ScottFox.com to subscribe to his free newsletters and such, and for those that would like to receive coaching from Scott for less than $1 per day, go to www.ClickMillionaires.com.

May you prosper on the road to Internet riches.

Sincerely,

All I got to say, social media ain’t my grandfather’s radio.

Check this video out and draw your own conclusions.

As Perry Belcher said, “Hey, you can’t put the @#!% back in the horse.”

Talk to you soon.

Kyle Nichols is the owner of a wonderful Internet marketing and coaching company, and what they have done is combine high-quality training and coaching from some of the best online marketers along with a very lucrative money-making referral program.

A member can truly earn while she learns. What is so pleasantly surprising is how affordable the program is, yet powerful enough for members to build an immediate and substantial long-term recurring income stream.

Kyle shared some tips on how we can become web marketing whiz kids by leveraging his latest product/program, You Can’t Say No.

What is really appealing (to me, anyway) about this program is that it compliments whatever you’re already working on by giving you more ‘How To’ online marketing knowledge. The catalog of training audios, videos, and the community of other online marketers that share best practices is extremely impressive. I can’t believe that a person can have access to this program for less than $1.75 per day – unbelievable. Hey, You Can’t Say No to that (pun intended).

To learn more about this product/program, visit www.WebMarketingWhizKids.com.

Click on the player below to listen to the interview that I did with Mr. Nichols on Wednesday, October 7th, 2009.

As Internet Marketing heavy-hitter, Perry Belcher, would say, “Hey man, the poops is out and you can’t shove it back into the horse, so get with it because Internet marketing is not going anywhere and is only going to get bigger.”

Hmmm…spoken like a true Texan.

With appreciation,

I had the good fortune to meet Mary Cravets on a Speed Networking Over the Phone event. She is a prolific networker that organizes and promotes face-to-face speed networking events in her home town of Sedona, Arizona.

She is the owner of Brilliant Virtual Assistance. What they do at Brilliant Virtual Assistance is provide support for entrepreneurs and companies that need help, but don’t wish to incur the costs of hiring and maintaining employees. Whether it’s consistent administrative support, or collaboration on a one-time project, their wide range of services, convenient access and inherent flexibility make them a great option to meet the ever-changing needs of business enterprises.

They are not a staffing agency so there are no agency or advertising fees. You pay only for services rendered.

She typically works with busy real estate agents and networking marketing / MLM professionals who have more than 4,000 sales representatives in their organization. However, her company has the flexibility to work with other entrepreneurs and sales professionals who are looking to free up their time from doing administrative things so that they can focus on revenue generating activities.

Being that her company is virtual in nature, they have clients all across the USA.

Listen to Mary’s story on how she became an entrepreneur accidentally and how that accident has become a rather profitable operation. This interview took place on Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009 at 8:30pm EDT.

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Make sure to visit Mary’s site at www.BrilliantVA.com.

All the best,

Lisa Torres (aka the Social Butterfly) and Tyrone Turner (aka Ty the Card Guy) share a few tips on things to do to get the online conversations offline.

Some things touched on:

• Social networking sites
• Face-to-face networking events
• Virtual networking events
• Follow-up tools
• Video email and chat
• Building your list

.

I hope that you like what you hear in the above video.

All the best,

Using poker as analogy for leadership, Captain Andrew Harvey, CPD (ret.), Ed.D. and Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster, LAPD (ret.), MPA found the right mix of practical experience and academic credentials to write a definitive book for leaders. Working together, Harvey and Foster have written Leadership: Texas Hold em Style. Most often leaders find they are given a set of resources people, equipment, funds, experience and a mission. As Foster noted, “You’re dealt a certain hand. How you play that hand as a leader determines your success.”

It was truly a joy for me to interview Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster, LAPD (ret.). He really gave us all some real talk about what it needs to become successful. Personally, I particularly liked what he said about how to approach social networking sites and how you have to actually ask for the sale.

A lot of people forget what Mary Kay Ash said: “Nothing happens until you sell something.”

You can visit Raymond’s website at www.PokerLeadership.com.

Click on the player below to listen to the 60-minute interview I did with him on Tuesday, 28 July 2009.

This is a ‘must listen to’ interview.

I am working hard to bring you real talent from across our great nation and our wonderful neighbor to the north (Canada).

Peace & blessings,

The relationship between a business owner and her customers, employees, and partners is sacred and should be treated as such. In the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic holy scriptures, reference is made to the Ark of the Covenant.

However, this is not about that Ark, but about the ARC.

ARC is an acronym for appreciate, reward, and celebrate.

Here is the breakdown:

Appreciate

• Appreciate your customers because their patronage puts food on your table. In today’s world, there are endless choices, but your customers chose to do business with you. Appreciate them for that.
• Appreciate your employees. If those hard-working, dedicated men and women didn’t deliver on the promises that you make to your customers, you would not be able to compete in the marketplace.
• Appreciate your partners because they help add value to your employee and customer relationships by helping fill ‘gaps in your game’ or but offering a complimentary product or service.

Reward

• Reward your customers with outrageous customer care, and a very good product/service. Offer specials like reward dollars and other ‘frequent flyer’ like incentives.
• Reward your employees with public praise and other performance based incentives (e.g. extra paid time off, professional development, etc.)
• Reward your partners with what they crave most – new business referrals.

Celebrate

• Celebrate customers on special days like birthdays, anniversaries, promotions, holidays, and other special occasions
• Celebrate employee achievements and milestones. For example, throw pizza parties and such to celebrate birthdays, employee anniversaries (e.g. 5 years with the company, etc.), and other life-changing events like birth of children, marriage, etc.

Celebrate any successes that your partners may have like closing a new deal, a new product launch, and the anniversary of the partnership.

Ladies and gentlemen, hold fast to the ARC of the Covenant for Entrepreneurs, as it will set a chain of events, and put people in your path that will help you achieve success in uncommon hours.

THAT is the secret.

All the best,